Jewelry



June 25, 1940.

R. c BANGS JEWELRY Filed Feb. 25. 1938 ATTORNEYS 1 m #i 2 .V H L a 5m. m T Q 1 2 A H I. m w m a m va Patented June 25, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JEWELRY Ralph C. Bangs, Providence, R. I., assignor to Cohn & Rosenberger Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 25, 1938, Serial No. 192,459

1 Claim.

a frame of simple construction, and to provide letters, initials or characters which can be simply and conveniently connected to said frame or be detached from said frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which can be made at low cost and which will be of simple and durable construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a frame in the form of one or more pairs of bars, said bars being made of resilient metal or other resilient material, said bars defining slots into which rigid lugs or heads of the characters can'be inserted and held frictionally.

Other objects of my invention will be set forth in the following description and drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment thereof, it

being understood that the above statement of I the objects of my invention is intended generally to explain the same without limiting it in any manner.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the improved device.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of said device.

Fig. 3 is a sectional'view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial view of the frame member and of certain other parts of the device.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of- Fig. 4.

The device comprises a frame member [8 which is provided with one or more longitudinal slots IS. The frame I8 is made of suitable resilient metal or other resilient material so as to provide resilient bars whose edges define the slot or slots l9. Said resilient bars are separated from each other by the cross-portions of the frame l8 which are located between the slots IS.

The drawing also shows characters L, L and L which are initials in the specific embodiment which is illustrated herein, as said embodiment illustrates an initial pin or initial brooch.

Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 show the characters partially overlapping each other and this is an important ornamental feature of the device, whereby a very attractive effect is secured.

The respective characters are provided with means which are identical in construction for connecting said characters releasably to the frame 18, although said connecting means may differ in dimensions in order to secure the aforesaid partial overlapping eifect.

As shown in Fig. 5, the rear face of each of the characters, such as the character L has a bracket l0 connected thereto by means of soldering or the like. The bracket I 0 has an arm A II which is soldered or otherwise connected directly to the character L Said character L and the other parts described herein are made of any suitable metal or other material.

It would not be departing from the invention if the bracket 10 were integral with or connected in anysuitable manner to the respective character.

Each bracket I0 is provided with a laterally extending arm l2. Each arm 12 is provided with an enlarged head which includes spaced head-portions l3 and I4, and an intermediate portion l5. Each arm I2 is therefore provided with a groove intermediate the adjacent walls of the head-portions l3 and I 4.

In order to connect each character to the frame 20 I8, the head-portion I4 is pushed through the slot l9. The resilient bars of the frame l8 can spring apart or be sprung apart by a. tool. Said bars then spring into the groove intermediate the members l3 and I4 so as to hold the inner end of the bar I2 frictionally and firmly in position. The bars II and I2 and the members l3 and M are preferably made of rigid and nonspringy metal.

Fig. 5 shows the edge l6 of the member l3. If desired, the member I4 may be twisted relative to the longitudinal axis of the bar l2, so as to form edge-portions I! which overlie the inner wall of the frame l8, when the character is held on the frame l8. This is shown in exaggerated form in Fig. 4.

The invention is not to be limited to said twisting of the member l4.

In Fig. 5, the adjacent inner edges of the bars of the frame l8 are shown as being slightly spaced from the adjacent walls of the member l5, for clearness of illustration.

If desired, the inner surfaces of the bars of the frame [8 may frictionally abut the corresponding surfaces of the member IS. The fit of the bars of the frame l8, between the members l3 and I4, is preferably a close fit.

If desired, the resilient frame I8 may be made sufficiently stiff so that it requires a tool in order to separate the bars thereof, so as to spring the member [4 through the slot l9, and into the position shown in Fig. 4 and in Fig. 5.

While the characters may he slid in their slots l9, by the use of sumcient force, the frictional grip of the frame 18 upon the arms of the carriers is sufficient to hold said characters firmly in their adjusted position.

The frame [8 may be provided with any conventional means for holding it to a garment.

For example, Fig. 3 shows the usual pin 2! which is turnably connected to a lug 20. Said lug 20 is suitably connected to one end of the inner wall of the frame l8. The other end of the inner wall of the frame l8 may be connected with the usual latch 22, for holding the pin 2| releasably in position. This detail is not illustrated as it is old and well known per se.

As shown in Fig. 3, the bars l2 of the brackets of the respective characters may differ in length, in order to permit the partial overlapping of the characters.

When a brooch of this type is sold, the dealer selects the proper characters such as the initials of the purchaser. The slots It] can then be enlarged by spreading apart the bars thereof by means of a suitable tool. The members I 4 are then sprung through the slots 29 so that the bracket arms l2 assume the positions illustrated in Fig. 3. The characters are then held firmly and immovably in the frame H3, although said characters may be readily removed by the use of a suitable tool.

The member i4 is of tapered shape, both in the horizontal plane and in the vertical plane as shown in Fig. 3 and in Fig. 5.

As shown in Fig. 3, the respective characters are preferably held in separate slots H? of the frame l8 and these characters are preferably inclined to the frame It. It is preferred that each of the slots L) be closed at each end thereof.

For convenience, the device will be described and claimed with reference to the vertical position of the characters which is illustrated in the drawing.

The height of the head which comprises the members l3, M- and i is preferably less than the width thereof, as can be seen by a compari son between Fig. 3 and Fig. 5. As shown in Fig.

reduced portion.

4, the slot I9 has a general rectangular shape so that it has two long sides, and two short sides. For convenience, the long dimension of the slot may be designated as the width thereof, and the short dimension of the slot may be designated as the height thereof. The dimension of the member IS, in a direction parallel to the long sides of the slot I9, may be designated as the width of the member l5. As shown in Fig. 2, the height of each slot is less than the width thereof, so that each slot has a longitudinal axis which is parallel to the long sides of the slot. The longitudinal axes of said slots are coincident. The portion 15 of each head may be designated as the reduced portion of said head.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, but numerous changes and omissions can be made without departing from its spirit.

I claim:

An ornamental device comprising a frame made of resilient material and having a plurality of separate slots which are spaced from each other, the height of each slot being less than the width thereof so that each slot has a longitudinal axis which is parallel to the long sides of said slot, the longitudinal axes of said slots being coincident, ornamental members, each said ornamental member having a head extending laterally and rearwardly therefrom, each said head comprising laterally spaced head portions and an intermediate reduced portion, the resilient walls of said slots engaging said heads and said reduced portions and frictionally holding said ornamental members in partially overlapping relation, the width of each slot being greater than the width of the respective reduced portion, each reduced portion being slidable in the respective slot in a direction parallel to the long sides of the respective slot, the inner surfaces of the walls of said slots substantially abutting the respective adjacent surfaces of the respective RALPH C. BANGS. 

